Ground-breaking program will begin to weave a safety net for the entire City …All City employees to receive life-saving training;

Dallas – The City of Dallas today announced its commitment to provide life-saving CPR training to all employees. By the end of 2008, almost all 13,000+ employees will have learned basic CPR, choking interventions and how to use an Automated External Defibrillator (AED) as part of the City’s Team Dallas Heartstarters program.

Funded by a grant from the Hoblitzelle Foundation, each employee participating in the new training program will receive a new American Heart Association (AHA) CPR Anytime kit, equipped with an individual manikin and DVD which also can be taken home to train the employees’ family members and friends.

The innovative AHA training, only a half-hour in duration, was provided to the City Council last May. Within months, Council Members Pauline Medrano and Linda Koop used their skills to save lives. “It’s a good feeling to help someone,” said Koop. “CPR training is very important; you never know when someone is going to need help,” she said.

“Our employees are everywhere in this City — at parks, at libraries. If all of our employees are trained in CPR, they will all be ready to save lives,” added Medrano.

“Through this ground-breaking training and partnership with the AHA, the City will become a clear role model for the entire Dallas area, if not other cities nationwide,” said Dr. Paul Pepe, City of Dallas Director of Medical Emergency Services.

“This is a fabulous way to begin to provide a safety net for the entire city!” said City Manager Mary K. Suhm. “The training will not only give City employees the tools they need to provide life-saving support, but also the ability to train their loved ones to do the same.”

The City is challenging all employers, schools and businesses to provide similar universal training in an effort to proliferate as many Heartstarters in Dallas as possible. The goal is to clearly establish Dallas as one of the safest cities in the nation for medical emergencies.